The Annual Women of Vision Awards honors women whose accomplishments have enriched both the profession and society with intelligence, talent and vision.  Through their remarkable work, the award recipients have blazed trails for women in media. Proceeds from Women of Vision events help WIFV produce continuing education programs, workshops, and seminars for its members and the industry at large. 

2009 Women of Vision Award Honorees are Constance Chatfield-Taylor, founder of Flying Color Broadcasts, Inc., Sharon Sloane, founder of WILL Interactive and Sheila Smith, director of photography at S & S Productions.  The awards were presented at the WIFV 30th Anniversary Reception on September 10, 2009 at the Cosmos Club.  Founders of WIFV will help present the 2009 Women of Vision Awards.  2009 Honorees will make individual presentations later in the WIFV 30th Anniversary Year.  Dates and topics will be posted to www.wifv.org.

Constance Chatfield-Taylor founded Flying Colors Broadcasts, Inc. in 1987. She built on her experience as Vice President of Operations for Professional Video Services to build a thriving company providing a full range of production services, technology innovation and mass distribution consultations, transmission services, broadcast network management and web interactivity services. Flying Colors’ clients include international and domestic news bureaus, sports bureaus, the GE Global Satellite Network, the business television network for Nationwide Insurance, and the VFW Network. 

Within days of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast, Flying Colors pulled together client and vendor resources to launch the Katrina Information Network (KIN).  This 24/7 satellite and internet channel contained critical emergency and recovery information and was made available to 12 million homes, businesses and 88 shelters and Disaster Recovery Centers in the Gulf Region. The KIN Channel was operational for three months at absolutely no charge and is a great demonstration of Flying Colors Broadcasts’ ability to quickly assemble public/private partnerships for public good and to disseminate information. 

Felicia Barlow, WIFV Past President relates her experience with Chatfield-Taylor. “I was given the task of bringing Barack Obama “live” by satellite to three union conventions in one week. Constance was there every twist and turn of the way and she made it easy.” Chatfield-Taylor has spent her career breaking barriers for women in the satellite/broadcast transmission industry. Flying Colors Broadcasts’ staff is predominately female, making it stand out in this male-dominated technical field. 

Sharon Sloane, President and CEO of WILL Interactive Inc., is a pioneer and leader in the virtual experience and interactive gaming industry.  Sharon has more than 25 years of experience producing cutting-edge instructional systems for behavior modification and performance improvement technology.  WILL’s products, a unique cross between live action feature films and video games, are made possible by their Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations (VEILS^®), which Sharon helped create and for which she holds the US patent. 

Since founding WILL in 1994, Sharon and her company’s programs have been featured on CBS News, CNN, and NPR, and in Time magazine, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Business Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and Training & Simulation Journal to name a few. Under Sharon’s leadership WILL’s programs have received more than 30 awards including High Technology Council’s “Top 20 New Technology”; the Software & Information Industry Association’s CODiE Award for ‘Best Workforce Training Solution’; Children’s Software Review “Editor’s Choice”; and First Place at the U.S. Government Technology Games Competition. In 2008 and 2009 Sharon was honored by the Army with the Maverick Award (Out-of-the-box Thinker Extraordinaire) for “contributing to the important topic of blurring the lines between the operational and institutional environments”. 

As a leading innovator in the interactive gaming and technology industry, WILL Interactive has been commissioned by and partnered with some of the most influential companies and organizations in the country and worldwide, training over 3 million users to date with VEILS^® technology.  Clients include all five branches of the U.S. Military; the FBI; McGraw Hill; Northrop Grumman; the National Football League (NFL), Verizon, MedStar Health; the Anti-Defamation League; Partnership for a Drug-Free America; law enforcement agencies in the UK, Canada, Australia and Japan; and thousands of middle/high schools and universities across the country.

Sheila Smith is a director of photography, accomplished cinematographer and Steadicam operator. Her resume includes many independent features, commercials, documentaries, television shows, sporting events, dance and music videos, across the globe. She films in all formats from 35mm to HD to mini dv. She owns several cameras including the Panasonic HDX 900, SDX 900 and Sony betacam, as well as mini dv, and Steadicam, lighting and grip equipment – a great asset when she hosts Camera Petting Zoos for WIFV!  

Smith’s clients include WETA, PBS, BBC, NBC, America’s Most Wanted, Discovery Network, and the Defense Logistics Agency.  Her Steadicam work is featured in a recent 3-D theatrical feature on Kenney Chesney. For the BBC, she served as DP on Crash, a documentary about the financial crisis.  Other DP credits include PBS Frontlines, History Channel, Travel Channel, and HBO for The Wire (2006). Her Steadicam work has been featured on ABC’s Good Morning America, P.S. I Know You Love Me (2005 feature) and National Geographic’s Chupacabra.  

In 2000 Sheila won the Director of Photography/Film DC Peer Award from ITVA.  She volunteers regularly as a mentor to area students and emerging camera operators.  Smith often helps area high school students film their public service announcements as part of the WIFV Image Makers program.